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The title of this article contains the following characters: š and ć. Where they are unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Goran Ivanisevic.

Goran Ivanišević

Country	Yugoslavia (1988-1991)  Croatia (from 1991)[1]
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth	September 13, 1971 (1971-09-13) (age 38)
Place of birth	Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb; 13.5 st)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2004
Plays	Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$19,876,579 9th All-time leader in earnings
Singles
Career record	599–333 (64.3%)
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	2 (4 July 1994)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (1989, 1994, 1997)
French Open	QF (1990, 1992, 1994)
Wimbledon	W (2001)
US Open	SF (1996)
Doubles
Career record	263–225
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	20 (6 January 1992)

Goran Ivanišević (Croatian pronunciation: [ɡǒran iʋanǐːʃɛʋitɕ]; born 13 September 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous for his strong serve, which is considered among the greatest to date. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind Pete Sampras) in 1994. He is the current reigning Legends under 45 French Open doubles Champion.

Career

Ivanišević was born in Split, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) . He turned professional in 1988 and later that year, with Rüdiger Haas, won his first career doubles title in Frankfurt, but he focused more on his singles career, yet had some success in doubles, winning nine titles and reaching a career high ranking of 20.

Ivanišević made his first significant impact on the tour in 1990, knocking Boris Becker out of the first round of the French Open men's singles; he went on to reach the quarter-finals. He was also, with Petr Korda, the runner-up in the French Open men's doubles. At that year's Wimbledon, Ivanišević reached the semi-finals, where he lost to Becker in four sets. Ivanišević also won his first tour singles title in 1990 at Stuttgart and helped Yugoslavia win the World Team Cup. He played in eight ties for Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup before quitting the team after the Croatian declaration of independence in 1991.^[2] Yugoslavia lost its subsequent tie against France 5-0.

Ivanišević quickly became known on the tour for his strong, attacking style of play and for an extremely powerful serve. For several years, he had more aces than anyone else on the tour. Capable of beating anyone in the world when at his very best, he was also known for occasional on-court temper tantrums—usually directed towards himself—and the volatility of the standard of his play. Ivanišević received death threats at the 1992 Australian Men's Hardcourt Championships.^[3] He went on to win the tournament.

In 1992, Ivanišević steamrolled his way to reach his first Wimbledon singles final, having defeated Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras in succession. In the final he faced Andre Agassi and was heavily favored to win; both players were attempting to win their first Grand Slam title. Agassi eventually won 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. In the 5th set, Goran had a break point on Agassi's serve at 3 all, but did not convert it. In the final game of the match, he served 2 double faults to start the game, even though he had 5 for the entire match before that. His ace count for the tournament (200+) at the time was the highest in the history of ATP. He served 39 aces that day, while Agassi had 37 for the entire tournament. It was a tough loss, but as he was only 20 years old, a bright future was predicted. Later that summer at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Ivanišević won bronze medals in both singles and doubles representing Croatia, a state that had only recently declared independence. He also won four singles titles that year.

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Croatia
Tennis
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	Singles
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	Men's Doubles

Ivanišević reached the Wimbledon final for the second time in 1994, where he was defeated by defending-champion Pete Sampras 7–6, 7–6, 6–0. Ivanišević reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 2 in July that year.

In 1995, Ivanišević won the Grand Slam Cup, beating Todd Martin in the final 7–6, 6–3, 6–4. At Wimbledon, Ivanišević lost in the semi-finals to Sampras 6–7, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6.

In 1996 he won a career-best five singles titles. He reached the Grand Slam Cup final again, but this time lost to Becker in straight sets. Ivanišević also teamed with Iva Majoli to win the 1996 Hopman Cup for Croatia. That year Ivanišević also defeated Stefan Edberg to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, his first Grand Slam semi-final away from Wimbledon; the match was the last Grand Slam match of Edberg's career. In the semifinals, Ivanisevic he fell again to Sampras, in four sets; Sampras would go on to defeat Michael Chang to win his fourth U.S. Open championship.

In 1998, Ivanišević reached his third Wimbledon final, facing Sampras once again. Although a heavy underdog, this time he pushed Sampras to five sets, before losing 7–6, 6–7, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6.

Ivanišević finished runner-up in the French Open men's doubles in 1999 (with Jeff Tarango). However for much of 1999, 2000, and 2001, he struggled with a shoulder injury and his performance and world ranking began to slide steadily.

By the summer of 2001, Ivanišević was ranked the World No. 125. This was not sufficient to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time runner-up, he was awarded a wildcard for entry into the singles draw. He defeated former and future World #1 players Carlos Moya, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin to reach the semi-final, beating home favourite Tim Henman in a five set, rain-affected semi-final, setting-up a match with the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. It was Ivanišević's first singles final since 1998. In a match lasting just over three hours, Ivanišević defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7. Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.^[4] To date, he is the only male entrant to have won a Grand Slam as a wildcard. His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100 Greatest Sporting Moments by a British television programme.

Later that year he received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award.

Goran Ivanišević and Mario Ancic playing doubles during the 2004 Queen's Club Championships

The 2001 Wimbledon title was the last of Ivanišević's career. He temporarily retired later in 2001 due to shoulder surgery. He returned to tennis in 2004 but retired permanently after a third-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon, held on the Centre Court, the scene of his greatest triumph.

In 2005, Ivanišević was a member of the Croatian team for the Davis Cup final against Slovakia in Bratislava, although he did not play. Croatia won the final 3–2. He Received a Winner's Medal and his name was engraved on the trophy along with Mario Ancic, Ivo Karlović, Ivan Ljubicic and Captain Nikola Pilic .

In June 2006, he performed in the Calderstones Park tournament in Liverpool.

In November 2006, Ivanišević won the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions tournament in Frankfurt, defeating John McEnroe 7–6(12), 7–6(1).

In 2007 Roger Federer, seeking his 5th Wimbledon in a row and due to face Nadal in the final, practised with Goran Ivanišević. He said it helped him against Nadal:

Well, I mean, it's good to have hit at least half an hour with a lefty before the finals because I've played against six right handers. So, of course, it's hard to come into a match and you play a lefty. Especially on the returns, I always feel it. The entire points are played in a different manner. Where usually you go backhand cross‑court, with Rafa I have to go backhand long line. I asked Goran yesterday if he wanted to hit with me. He said, Sure, I'm around. I was very happy he did that.

Football

Ivanišević played football for the Croatian team Hajduk Split in 2001.^[5] Goran supports English team West Bromwich Albion. He became a fan after the Midland club's Great Escape from Premiership relegation in 2005 when they became the first club since the creation of the modern Premier League in 1992 to be bottom of the league at Christmas and avoid relegation.^[6] He wore an Albion shirt whilst warming up prior to the 2006 BlackRock Masters final.^[7]

Goran also participated in an exhibition match of the Croatian national team of 1998 versus the International football stars on 7 October 2002 in Zagreb. It was the last career match of Croatian midfielder and team captain Zvonimir Boban. Ivanišević scored the goal for 1–1 (the game ended 2–1 for the International stars).

Goran Ivanišević interviewed during 2000 Davis Cup match in Dublin.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1992	Wimbledon	Grass	Andre Agassi	6–7(8), 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4
Runner-up	1994	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(2), 7–6(5), 6–0
Runner-up	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(2), 7–6(9), 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Winner	2001	Wimbledon	Grass	Patrick Rafter	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7

Doubles: 2

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1990	French Open (1/1)	Clay	Petr Korda	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	1999	French Open (2/2)	Clay	Jeff Tarango	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–2, 7–5

Super 9/Masters Series finals

Singles: 7 (2-5)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1992	Stockholm	Carpet (i)	Guy Forget	7–6(2), 4–6, 7-6(5), 6-2
Runner-up	1993	Rome	Clay	Jim Courier	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	1993	Stockholm	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	4–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(3), 6–2
Winner	1993	Paris	Carpet (i)	Andrei Medvedev	6–4, 6–2, 7–6(2)
Runner-up	1994	Stockholm	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(4)
Runner-up	1995	Hamburg	Clay	Andrei Medvedev	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	1996	Miami	Hard	Andre Agassi	3–0 retired

Career titles

Singles (22)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	16 July 1990	Stuttgart Outdoor, West Germany	Clay	Guillermo Pérez Roldán	6–7(2), 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(5)
2.	17 June 1991	Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–4, 6–4
3.	30 December 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Christian Bergström	1–6, 7–6(5), 6–4
4.	17 February 1992	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–7(5), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
5.	5 October 1992	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
6.	26 October 1992	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Guy Forget	7–6(2), 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–2
7.	13 September 1993	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Andrei Cherkasov	6–2, 7–6(5)
8.	18 October 1993	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Thomas Muster	4–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6(3)
9.	1 November 1993	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet (i)	Andrei Medvedev	6–4, 6–2, 7–6(2)
10.	10 October 1994	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Fabrice Santoro	6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2
11.	1 August 1994	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet (i)	Michael Chang	6–4, 6–4
12.	5 December 1995	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Todd Martin	7–6(4), 6–3, 6–4
13.	29 January 1996	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Cedric Pioline	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
14.	12 February 1996	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Albert Costa	6–4, 6–3
15.	26 February 1996	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Marc Rosset	6–3, 7–6(3)
16.	4 March 1996	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
17.	4 November 1996	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	3–6, 6–1, 6–3
18.	27 January 1997	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	7–6(4), 4–6, 7–6(6)
19.	24 February 1997	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Sergi Bruguera	6–2, 6–2
20.	6 October 1997	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	3–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(4), 6–2, 6–3
21.	2 February 1998	Split, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Greg Rusedski	7–6(3), 7–6(5)
22.	25 June 2001	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Patrick Rafter	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7

Doubles (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	17 October 1988	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Rudiger Haas	Jeremy Bates Tom Nijssen	1–6, 7–5, 6–3
2.	4 February 1991	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Omar Camporese	Cyril Suk Tom Nijssen	6–4, 7–6
3.	13 May 1991	Rome, Italy	Clay	Omar Camporese	Laurie Warder Luke Jensen	6–2, 6–3
4.	17 June 1991	Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Omar Camporese	Andrew Castle Nick Brown	6–4, 6–3
5.	30 December 1991	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Marc Rosset	Mark Kratzmann Jason Stoltenberg	7–6, 7–6
6.	11 September 1995	Bordeaux, France	Hard	Saša Hirszon	Henrik Holm Danny Sapsford	6–3, 6–4
7.	26 February 1996	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Andrea Gaudenzi	Jakob Hlasek Guy Forget	6–4, 7–5
8.	27 January 1997	Zagreb, Croatia	Carpet (i)	Saša Hiršzon	Brent Haygarth Mark Keil	6–4, 6–3
9.	10 February 1997	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Sander Groen	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	7–6, 6–3

ATP Tour runner-ups (37)

Singles (27)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	29 May 1989	Florence, Italy	Clay	Horacio de la Peña	6–4, 6–3
2.	21 May 1990	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Goran Prpić	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
3.	27 August 1990	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Stefan Edberg	7–6(3), 6–3
4.	17 September 1990	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Guy Forget	6–4, 6–3
5.	1 October 1990	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	6–7(3), 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–3, 6–4
6.	19 August 1991	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Petr Korda	6–4, 6–2
7.	10 February 1992	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Omar Camporese	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
8.	6 July 1992	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Andre Agassi	6–7(8), 6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4
9.	11 January 1993	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Boris Becker	7–6(4), 4–6, 7–5
10.	17 May 1993	Rome, Italy	Clay	Jim Courier	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
11.	1 November 1993	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	4–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(3), 6–2
12.	21 February 1994	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Carpet (i)	Stefan Edberg	4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2
13.	4 July 1994	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(2), 7–6(5), 6–0
14.	19 September 1994	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Franco Davín	6–2, 6–4
15.	31 October 1994	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(4)
16.	15 May 1995	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Medvedev	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
17.	15 January 1996	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Todd Martin	5–7, 6–3, 6–4
18.	26 February 1996	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Michael Stich	6–3, 6–2, 7–6(5)
19.	1 April 1996	Key Biscayne, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	3–0, ret.
20.	19 August 1996	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	7–6(3), 7–5
21.	9 December 1996	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet (i)	Boris Becker	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
22.	17 February 1997	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Thomas Muster	7–5, 7–6(3)
23.	16 June 1997	London/Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	Mark Philippoussis	7–5, 6–3
24.	6 July 1998	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(2), 7–6(9), 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
25.	24 August 1998	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Karol Kučera	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
26.	12 October 1998	Shanghai, China	Carpet	Michael Chang	4–6, 6–1, 6–2
27.	16 November 1998	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(2), 7–6(5)

Doubles (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	2 October 1989	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Diego Nargiso	Peter Ballauff Rudiger Haas	6–2, 6–7, 6–4
2.	19 February 1990	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Balázs Taróczy	Emilio Sánchez Slobodan Živojinović	7–5, 6–3
3.	11 June 1990	French Open, Paris	Clay	Petr Korda	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	7–5, 6–3
4.	20 August 1990	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Petr Korda	Jeff Brown Scott Melville	7–5, 7–6
5.	22 July 1991	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Omar Camporese	Wally Masur Emilio Sánchez	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
6.	15 June 1992	London/Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	Diego Nargiso	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	6-4, 7–6
7.	17 April 1995	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Andrea Gaudenzi	Trevor Kronemann David Macpherson	6–2, 6–4
8.	7 August 1995	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Sasa Hirszon	Brent Haygarth Kent Kinnear	6–4, 7–5
9.	7 June 1999	French Open, Paris	Clay	Jeff Tarango	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–2, 7–5
10.	2 August 1999	Los Angeles	Hard	Brian MacPhie	Byron Black Wayne Black	6–2, 7–6(4)

Team titles (3)

• 1990 – World Team Cup winner with Yugoslavia
• 1996 – Hopman Cup winner with Croatia
• 2005 – Davis Cup winner with Croatia

Singles performance timeline

• A = did not participate in the tournament
• LQ = lost in the qualifying draw
• SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Doubles performance timeline

See also

Tennis portal

• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

Video

• Wimbledon 2001 Final: Rafter Vs Ivanišević Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 195 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CT6.

Notes and references

External links

• Goran Ivanišević at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Goran Ivanišević at the International Tennis Federation
• Goran Ivanišević at Davis Cup